View Message

[Facts] Oney
Has anyone heard of a meaning for the name Oney? It was the name of George Washington's runaway slave, Oney Judge. Later on she went by the nickname of Ona, which according to this website is Lithuanian.
vote up1vote down

Replies

There would be other derivations of Ona besides the Lithuanian one, as with almost any very short name. There is some possibility Oney is a short form of an African name, but it seems more likely to me that it's a short form of a name like Honora or Honoria, or even a respelling of Annie.

This message was edited 1/14/2006, 3:17 PM

vote up1vote down
Yes Slave owners often gave their slaves short forms of names rather than the full name
see the link below
http://www.afrolumens.org/slavery/names.htmlImage hosted by Photobucket.com


Paula

This message was edited 1/14/2006, 3:38 PM

vote up1vote down
I have seen from varies searches that Oney is a surname but I cant locate the meaning.
Is it possible that the name was of African origin but misspelt, After all few slaves could read or write and it was left to their masters to spell the names as they pleased. Image hosted by Photobucket.com


Paula

vote up1vote down